MCS Car Totaled – Help Urgently Needed

by Julie Genser | Aug 10, 2024 | Chemical Sensitivity News, Of Interest News | 0 comments

Planet Thrive member Daniel W. is a young man who has been living in his car for the past two years due to a health condition that prevents him from tolerating affordable indoor living situations. The car he has been living in was recently totaled in a serious accident with a semi-truck. Daniel sustained minor injuries in the accident but fortunately, was not seriously injured — but he has lost his car/shelter and ability to generate any income. He was working several delivery jobs and dog sitting when he was able, but cannot continue without a car.

This is the second time Daniel has lost his car and has needed to replace it. In December 2022, the car he was living in was flooded. He purchased a used car and was struggling to make car payments before this recent car accident happened. He could really use some good fortune to come his way.

Daniel is young, homeless and on his own dealing with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) which left him with chronic pain from nerve damage. He shares, “it feels like every cell in my body is screaming in pain.” He suffers bouts of debilitating fatigue, swelling, respiratory issues, and excruciating nerve pain. He also manages severe food allergies with a very limited diet of red meat and a few vegetables. Due to his sensitivity to chemicals and fragrances, he needs to avoid common everyday products and is limited to what spaces he can go into. Standard construction materials and furnishings can cause severe respiratory and other distress, making living in a regular home dangerous.

Temporarily, Daniel is staying with friends but he needs to figure out a new living situation immediately. His friend Suzy started a GoFundMe campaign for him before this recent car accident to help him make monthly car payments and have enough funds to buy food and gas. With his car being totaled by a semi truck, he is in greater need of financial help and support than before. As a former foster child who was removed from his home by Child Protective Services (CPS) as a teen due to a difficult and traumatic home life, Daniel must rely on the greater community of humans to help him through this difficult situation. Please consider donating what you are able to help Daniel purchase a fragrance-free car, and afford food and gas and other living expenses for the next 6 months while he gets back on his feet. If you or someone you know has a scent-free car to donate to him or an affordable MCS-safe living situation for him in southern California, please let me know. Click here to visit Daniel’s GoFundMe

Author

Julie Genser

Julie's life was derailed over twenty years ago when she had a very large organic mercury exposure after she naively used a mouth thermometer to measure the temperature of just-boiled milk while making her very first pizza at home. The mercury instantly expanded into a gas form and exploded out the back of the thermometer right into her face. Unaware that mercury was the third most neurotoxic element on Earth, Julie had no idea she had just received a very high dose of a poisonous substance.

A series of subsequent toxic exposures over the next few years -- to smoke from two fires (including 9/11), toxic mold, lyme disease, and chemical injuries -- caused catastrophic damage to her health. While figuring out how to survive day-to-day, and often minute-to-minute, she created Planet Thrive to help others avoid some of the misdiagnoses and struggles she had experienced.

She has clawed her way over many health mountains to get to where she is today. She is excited to bring the latest iteration of Planet Thrive to the chronic illness community.

In 2019, Julie published her very first cookbook e-book called Low Lectin Lunches (+ Dinners, Too!) after discovering how a low lectin, gluten free diet was helping manage her chronic fascia/muscle pain.
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